Another Side of the Story
by AstralGato
Summary: A short retelling of the events of Shrek Forever After from Puss In Boots's side. I was chiefly inspired while one day wondering about how Puss went from swashbuckling debonair to fat, spoiled house pet, and about his close bond with Fiona. Not sure how far I'm going to go with this, I might take it all the way to the end. Possibly.
1. Chapter 1

"I have found.. _another cake!_ " Puss proclaimed, his chest puffed proudly as he revealed the confectionery in question.

He grinned at his accomplishment. How lucky it was that the Muffin Man had made a spare cake. Though his smile soon faded, if just a little, at the look on Shrek's face. It was fairly obvious that his friend had been acting a little strangely today, more foul-tempered than usual, though he hadn't known that was even possible.

He hadn't really thought much of it, in fact everyone who noticed Shrek's shift in mood, they all had thought nothing of it at all. Everyone was satisfied assuming the ogre had just woken up on the wrong side of the bed this morning, but surely even Shrek couldn't stay mad at this celebration for his little ones. Puss had been so sure he would soon relax.

But all party-goers stood frozen and in silence as the ogre's huge fist suddenly slammed down, right onto the cake Puss had just freshly presented, effectively destroying it. He almost wanted to be annoyed with Shrek for that, but he was more overwhelmed with shock and concern for his dear friend, much like the rest of the party guests. If something had really been bothering Shrek today, he hadn't said anything of it, not at breakfast this morning, or even during the flight to Far Far Away. He'd been completely silent about whatever it was that had caused him to be this way. But the mystery would still remain as such yet.

Shrek took one long, furious look at their frightened faces, shoved a table out of his way, then stormed out of the building.

For several moments, the room was painfully silent and tense. Donkey, unsurprisingly, spoke up first, and voiced what they were all thinking.

"What on earth was _that_ all about?"

"I don't know..." Fiona replied.

She looked terribly worried and even heartbroken, and Puss almost wanted to say something, to try and console her. Though he didn't much get the chance.

"I'll go and talk to him," she continued. "Why don't you all just continue to party, and we'll be right back."

"You heard her," Wolf's famously monotone voice sounded, seemingly emotionless as always. "Party on." He then began to inflate a balloon, only to have it pop right in his face almost immediately. Puss had noticed he'd been doing that for basically the entire time they'd been here, either not realizing the combination of his sharp teeth and his powerful breath wouldn't allow him to blow up a balloon properly, or not caring. But as far as Puss knew the wolf, he could guess it was the latter. He just hoped they had enough balloons to spare...

In any case, as per Fiona's wish, the party resumed as she went outside to talk with her husband.

Puss and Donkey exchanged an uneasy glance at first, but they had faith in Fiona, and more yet in hers and Shrek's relationship. They had to believe everything was ultimately fine.

And for a while, all was well, aside from Shrek's absence that is.

"Hey, where's Shrek?" Donkey asked, as a very distraught looking Fiona returned.

"I don't know what's gotten into him... but I think he just needs a little space and time to cool off right now. Let's just all enjoy the party for now."

Donkey looked as though he wanted to say more, but Fiona was too quick to turn and walk away.

Later that evening, the party had long since ended, and Fiona along with the triplets, and Puss and Donkey, had planned to return to the swamp, but Shrek had still been absent, and Fiona hadn't wanted to leave the kingdom without him. Instead, they all decided to stay at the castle and hope that Shrek would turn up soon.

"Man, he missed half the party _and_ dinner, and he's still totally AWOL!" Donkey complained. "Where do you think the big guy's gone off to?"

Puss shot Donkey a look. Donkey had always seemed to have an utter lack of subtlety and didn't always handle situations quite with the delicacy needed. But Donkey, as usual, didn't seem to realize he had done anything wrong at all in that moment.

Fiona was too distracted to respond as she and Lillian gathered the triplets, who had fallen fast asleep, and prepared to go put them to bed. Lillian hadset up accommodations in one of the castle's numerous rooms for the triplets some time ago, for whenever the occasion arrived that the ogre family would stay in the castle for any length of time. It seemed to prove especially useful tonight.

Puss had noticed that something was really bothering Fiona, even during the whole of the party, though she had done her best to feign a cheerful demeanor for the children. It seemed there was more to the situation that she wasn't telling, that it wasn't just Shrek's disappearance alone that was bothering her. It made Puss wonder what happened outside the party, perhaps they had gotten into an argument. Though over what, he couldn't guess. Up until today, it seemed like their lives were perfect, they were living out their happily ever after and all was well. But Shrek's outburst and overall behavior earlier in the day certainly raised some questions.

Outside, a storm that had arrived earlier in the evening still raged on. Puss hoped that, wherever Shrek was, he was staying safe and dry. No doubt the ogre was responsible enough to take care of himself, after all he'd lived alone is a swamp for very many years before he'd met Fiona, but Puss still couldn't help but worry anyway. At the same time, there wasn't much that could be done for it at the moment.

Puss and Donkey had sat watching the fire burn in the fireplace for a while, before Donkey told Puss he was going to call it a night and promptly left up the stairs to another floor. Donkey also presumably had a room of his own somewhere in the castle, but Puss didn't know where as he'd never bothered to visit it. The few times they'd stayed in the castle, Donkey had almost always been the first to leave his room and go to greet Puss, and the pair of them would then go and greet Shrek and Fiona. That had been the unofficial routine before the triplets had arrived anyway. Since they could walk and talk, the triplets had always been both the first to go to bed and the first to wake up in the morning, Shrek and Fiona always were to wake up right after as the triplets had no problem climbing into their parents bed each morning and making that happen.

Thinking of the ogre again, Puss couldn't help but to be concerned yet again. He wandered over to the nearest window and rested on the sill, idly watching the heavy rain fall. He hated water, in fact it outright terrified him, but he somehow still found that watching and listening to rain was oddly soothing to him. So long as none of it touched him.

He thought maybe laying here and watching the rain, he might begin to fall asleep. But something rather strange happened, that could only make him more alert. At first he missed it, there was a bright flash of something in the corner of his eye but by the time he looked over there was nothing that he could see out of the ordinary. He began to think it was just his imagination, it had been a very long and exciting day and it made reason for him to be very tired by now. But then it happened again, another bright flash elsewhere. This time, Puss shot upright eyeing the streets with full attentiveness. The winds blew and trash can into his view and Puss flinched as it barrelled towards a store window and he prepared to watch the glass shatter, but it suddenly vanished into a bright flash of gold which faded away as quickly as it had appeared. He began to think he wasn't imagining things after all. Especially when, one after another, various other objects began disappearing in yet more bright golden flashes. He could hardly fathom what was happening, but it was right in front of his eyes. When the streets became empty, buildings began to crumble away and rise towards the sky in an ever growing cloud of dark particles. He then realized with a surge of fear that whatever this was that was happening, had started from a distance and was approaching the castle fast. He jumped down from the window to go warn the others, but when he turned around, he saw Donkey running down the hall towards him. It seemed he had noticed it, too.

"PUSS-"

Donkey was only a few feet away from Puss as he called out the cat's name, but was suddenly cut off as he burst into a flash of gold and vanished. Puss wanted to cry out, but his voice caught in his throat, his fur stood on end and his heart raced. He was absolutely terrified, more than he'd ever been in his life. Suddenly the walls around him began crumbling apart, just like he had seen earlier. He was helpless as the world around him came apart around, there was nothing around him for miles outside the castle but a vast see of glittering golden light. Then his whole body started to tingle, almost painfully so.

Then he burst in a flash of gold and vanished completely.

Gold turned to black as the world went dark. There was no castle, there was no Far Far Away, there was nothing at all. A vast utter nothingness.


	2. Chapter 2

Over the years, Puss had gone from a vibrant and optimistic cat to a bitter loner. Puss often longed for the days where he had friends and adventures, he lived a bold and exciting life once. And when he had left Spain and arrived in Far Far Away, he'd been nothing but optimistic, he even had very few qualms about his job here at the Poison Apple. While life in Far Far Away had once been some of the best years of his live, it very quickly became something miserable.

It wasn't always like this. He once had more money than he ever needed, but now he was only barely scraping by. And those he could once call a friend became distant and bitter towards him, even more than he had himself. The kingdom and its people were in such a sorry state in fact that even all the people who _would_ have had a job for Puss, or anyone at the pub, were either too weak and sickly to make the trip to The Poison Apple, too afraid, or absolutely could not afford to even entertain the idea. He once had plenty of work but now he very rarely, if ever at all, got any work. As a result his once pleasant gratifying situation very quickly turned foul. He could barely even afford to pay Doris for the rent of his room these days. And he didn't leave because fairytale creatures like himself either became miserable slaves to the king, or were forced to live in squalor on the streets like the rest of the kingdom. And neither of those options were really much better than staying at The Poison Apple. Though as miserable as things were way out here, the city really wasn't much, if any, better. When Rumplestiltskin had come into power after the previous King and Queen had mysteriously vanished, he had promised the people of Far Far Away that he would take care of them, and that all of their dreams would come true. But just as quickly as he could sit down in his throne, he had seemed to completely abandon his kingdom. He demanded everything and gave nothing, and anyone who dared to defy or question the king was either forced into slavery or very cruelly punished. So everyone just kept their heads down and minded themselves at all times, no matter how bad things got.

No one wanted to live in Far Far Away, those who had the choice had fled the kingdom to somewhere better long ago. Puss had half a mind to do so himself, as soon as he could actually afford to live anywhere else.

He leaned back lazily in his chair as he propped his boots up on the desk before him. He had long since stopped bothering to listen or watch for the door, Doris was pretty much the only one who ever came around to his room and it was only for the rent money. He figured he could probably sleep the whole day away, and there would have been no activity anywhere near his room whatsoever.

Meanwhile, at the palace, Rumplestiltskin paced uneasily in his throne room.

For years had had indulged in having power over an entire kingdom, which he hadn't even needed to lift a finger to do as soon as he made it clear that, no matter what happened, he was entirely untouchable. If anyone ever dared to defy or question him, he had an infinite number of ways to make them deeply regret it.

But for the moment, he couldn't afford to relax and indulge in all the perks of being royalty. One day, only mere months from now, Shrek would appear into the world for one day. But Rumplestiltskin knew that one could accomplish a lot in a single day, after all he had acquired an entire kingdom in a single afternoon. He also knew that if Shrek stuck his fat nose where it didn't belong like Rumplestiltskin knew he was entirely likely to do, then it would undo all of his work, and the ogre would have stolen everything away from Rumplestiltskin and effectively ruined his life a second time. And that, he absolutely would _not_ tolerate.

The witches fearfully watched Rumplestiltskin fume from one end of the room to the other, wrapped up in his thoughts and plotting. Most were too scared to speak up, but they all knew what had his so stressed. Until eventually there was but one witch who was so bold.

"I don't see what the big deal is. It's just one ogre, what could he really even manage to do?"

Rumplestiltskin suddenly halted, and spun on his heel and face the witch who spoke up. Easily identifiable as every witch near her quickly stepped away, knowing and fearing the extent of Rumplestiltskin's rage. Even the witch who had spoken up now trembled in her boots, and was very clearly wishing she hadn't just said what she said.

"Don't you get it?" hissed Rumplestiltskin. "Even the dumb oaf that he is, he'll soon realize what he's done. And when he does, he'll set off to sweep the lovely princess off her feet, and they'll fall in love, and everything will be ruined, my entire empire _destroyed_! All of my work to get to this point will have been for _nothing!_ No, I have to get rid of that ogre before that happens!"

He cupped his hands together, beginning to form a plot in his mind.

" _BABA_!" he hollered irately.

The witch in question, who'd been lounging idly while he talked, suddenly leapt up to her feet met him attentively, completely terrified of potentially unwittingly disobeying him.

"Go to the Poison Apple," he ordered. "I need an assassin, but not just any assassin. I need the ogre killer."

After no more than an obedient, stiff nod she scurried off, fast as her legs would carry her, to get the task done.

"I will not let that Shrek take everything away from me," he grumbled to himself. "Not again."

At the very edge of the kingdom, in a dark and dreary wood, was The Poison Apple. A rundown pub which served as a place to cater to villains and criminals of all sorts. Baba hated this place, it was miserable and foul and outright spooky! A thick fog pervaded the air, and the gnarled trees surrounding the place had branches like twisted fingers that almost seemed they would snatch up or claw anyone who dared to pass by. But far more frightening than this place was the thought of angering Rumplestiltskin. There was no telling what sort of horrible punishment he would dish out if she failed to complete this task.

She wasted no time, both with the fear of angering Rumplestiltskin, and with eagerness to spend as little time at this end of the kingdom as entirely possible.

She met with the bartender, a startlingly masculine woman named Doris. After delivering the message of Rumplestiltskin's needs, Doris asked Baba to wait a moment as she walked to one of the back rooms of the pub and promptly knocked on the door.

"Come inside," a deep voice, thick with Spanish accent, responded.

Doris did just as Puss told. He was concealed in the shadows of the room, but she could see the bottoms of his boots as he rested his legs up in the table, and the emerald glint of his sharp eyes.

"Doris," he greeted brusquely. "I am sure there must be a good reason for disturbing me."

"Someone requests your services," Doris informed simply.

"Yes, well, I am sure it can wait. I am very busy with... some very important personal matters." By that he meant that he was about to settle into a catnap before she had come, and Doris was well aware of the fact. She had known Puss too well to ever be fooled by any of his excuses anymore.

"And you know that any other day I would let you get back to your 'personal matters', but I think you'll agree this is a little more important. Your services have been requested by his majesty, Rumplestiltskin. He's looking for an ogre killer."

Puss suddenly pulled his boots from the table and straightened up in his chair, coming out of the shadows to face Doris in the dim light that filtered through a single dusty window. No one had hired him for a job like this in _ages_. These words had absolutely piqued his interest, and she had his full attention now.

"And no doubt, his majesty would pay quite royally for my services," he mused, mostly to himself.

"Yeah, well, maybe with all that money you'll finally pay your damn tab."

"I have paid my tab," Puss argued.

She sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose in annoyance at this.

"How many times do I have to tell you that we don't accept balls of yarn as payment for drinks?"

"You truly underestimate the value of yarn, Doris. But never mind that. Send word to his majesty that I will meet him tomorrow to dicuss the details of this job. For right now, I have a date with the insides of my eyelids... that is to say I will be taking a nap."

"Yeah, I got that. But Rumplestiltskin requests your services immediately. And I think we both know he's the last person that you want to keep waiting."

Puss groaned, he really wasn't in the mood for this right now, but he knew Doris had far too good of a point to bother trying to argue.

"Very well, I will be out in a minute," he said.

Once Doris had left the room, Puss began preparing for the trip. He put on his cape, dusted off his boots, straightened his hat, and ensured the sharpness of his blade. All only after a quick grooming, though. After all, he had to look his best if he was to see and discuss business with royalty.


	3. Chapter 3

The sight of the palace was just yet another painful reminder of Rumplestiltskin's abundant greed and cruelty. It was extensively lavish and gaudy, even for royalty. The brilliant, shining gold and ivory architecture was a severe contrast to the dreary, faded grey and brown hues of the rest of the kingdom. No expense had been spared on Rumplestiltskin and his palace, and even less had been spent on anything else.

He had witches guarding him on either side, escorting him past the gate. He couldn't imagine what they thought he might do, he hadn't even wanted to be here, it wasn't like he was dumb enough to actually try and pull anything. His main concern really was just getting the money, the price for an ogre killing might actually be enough to get him out of this dreaded kingdom, or at least bring him closer to that goal. So, while he was here, he would be sure to mind himself and obey to whatever was wanted from him.

As they passed through the gate inside, to his left he could see an ogre straining himself tremendously to loser the gate behind Puss and the witches. When the witch keeping watch of him grew impatient, she lashed the ogre across the back and he howled in pain and struggled even more at the witch's order to move faster. It was truly sickening. Puss almost wished he could do something about it. He knew ogres were considered little more that unsavory beasts, but he still thought that even this sort of treatment was a bit too harsh.

He didn't think it was possible, but somehow the inside of the palace was even more impressive than its exterior. Realizing this only sickened Puss further as he yet again remembered the sight of the filthy, decaying city on the way here, and the extent of the whole kingdom's suffering.

He could also swear to hear faint dance music from somewhere in the palace. But he didn't have time to think any more on it as then, among the scattered groups of witches in the room, he noticed a donkey. It was odd to see a donkey, especially with such filthy, unkempt fur, in a royal palace. Especially one exclusively inhabited by witches. And, of course, one evil dwarf. And Puss couldn't help but stare curiously, though he soon realized his mistake as the Donkey took notice and shot Puss a glare.

"And just what're _you_ lookin' at, hairball?" the donkey snapped bitterly.

Puss simply turned his attention back to the path ahead, thinking better than to acknowledge that insulting outburst. Seriously, was _everyone_ in this palace cruel? He did briefly wonder what could have put the donkey in such a foul mood, and also why he seemed to care so little about his own hygiene. But he didn't dwell on it. Really, he didn't really care all that much. He was only here to conduct his business with the king, and be on his way. He certainly would never see that donkey again after today, and was rather glad for that.

The tremendous double doors were pushed open by two witches standing guard. The source of the loud music he had heard when he first entered, it was now very apparent, came from this room. A massive ball made of metal, a sort of giant makeshift disco ball if you will, hung high above, reflecting off many bright lights, that shone over the crowd of witches below. The witches seemed to be having some sort of wild and extravagant party. And their dancing, Puss couldn't help but note, was obnoxious at best. To his right, he could see the live band, unsurprisingly made up of yet more witches. To his right, however, was a rather peculiar sight. There sat a goose roughly the size of a bull, wearing a large pink bow around it's neck. The goose was flanked by three pigs, supporting a tray of food. Apparently for the goose, as it plucked up a chicken (just a normal average-sized chicken thankfully) and attempted to swallowed it whole by tossing it back into its throat.

Puss had never known much personally about Far Far Away's ruler, and certainly not that his interests were so strange. The man (or rather the dwarf) himself even looked strange, though. Along with his rather unattractive white suit, he wore a wig, tall and white and shaped like a goose. A goose wig, an actual giant goose, a palace full of egg or goose inspired decor... The king really did have quite the obsession it seemed.

Rumplestiltskin was surrounded by witches, all gossiping and laughing, lounging across a sofa as extravagant as any other furniture in the palace, with drinks in hand. As soon as Rumplestiltskin seemed to notice Puss approaching, however, he immediately straightened and gained a new composure. With a snap of his fingers, the other witches did the same.

"So, this is the famous Puss In Boots," he sneered.

Puss bowed respectfully. "That is correct, your majesty. At your service."

Rumplestiltskin snapped his fingers toward a witch nearby.

"Griselda, get the map," he ordered.

One of the witches swiftly and obediently handed him the map in question, and he spread it across the wide, glass table.

"Alright, let's get straight to business," he said to Puss.

He pointed to a depiction of an ominous looking castle another kingdom over. Puss recognized it, at least vaguely, in that he had heard tale that it was a dragon's keep.

"I need you to kill the ogre that lives here as soon as possible."

"My apologies, your majesty, but is that not a dragon's keep? I am afraid that I am not a dragon slayer."

"Don't worry about that, let's just say the dragon's already been... _handled_."

He wasn't sure what Rumplestiltskin exactly was implying, but he wasn't sure he _wanted_ to know.

"Now, I haven't forgotten about your payment."

He snapped his fingers, which seemed to be sort of a habit of his, and a witch dropped a large sack onto the table, it tipped from its own weight and from it spilled gold coins. It was considerably more than Puss usually used to ask for as payment for killing an ogre, but he sure as hell wasn't about to complain. The king must _really_ have wanted this ogre dealt with.

"All this is yours, but only _after_ the job is done."

"Ah, well, that is not really how I usually handle business," Puss informed, as politely as he could.

"No, but it's how I do. And since I am the king, you will do as I say because I can promise you that the consequences for disobedience _won't_ be pretty."

Puss was normally very strict about being paid up front for an assassination, but it seemed he really had no choice this time. But he was desperate enough for the money at all that he didn't think on it much more.

"Very well, I will head out to dispose of this ogre immediately. And then, I will return for my payment."

"It'll all be here waiting for you when you get back. Just _hurry_. Oh, and one more thing..."

"Yes, your majesty?"

"You have to get the ogre _after_ sunset."

That didn't quite make sense to him, but Puss felt it was better not to question it. He really didn't want to be here any long that he had to anyway.

"I believe I can manage that."

"Good. Then _go_."

He left the palace in more of a foul mood than he had arrived in, but the thought of so much gold was enough to keep Puss from being discouraged for long. He detoured back to The Poison Apple, only to inform Doris that he was leaving for the job. Doris nonchalantly threatened to replace Puss if he didn't get back soon, and he couldn't actually tell if she was joking or not at this point. Although, if all went accordingly, he wouldn't need his job at The Poison Apple, in fact he wouldn't need to return to Far Far Away ever again.


	4. Chapter 4

At the end of a rather long and unforgiving journey across kingdoms, Puss climbed up over a ridge to see a massive castle looking before him. As he got closer he noticed what appeared to be an impressively huge moat, but it was empty and barren. But that, of course, didn't make the risk of falling into it any less deadly. He also took notice of the only way to and from the castle. A thin, suspending bridge made up of nothing more than weathered planks of wood and brittle rope. He peered nervously over the edge of the moat. Now, he was, by no means, afraid of heights. But he was, however, at least a little apprehensive about plummeting to his death.

"I do not suppose there is a back entrance, with a stone bridge, that does _not_ at all look like it will fall apart at any moment," he muttered to himself.

Taking a deep breath, he carefully made the first step onto the bridge. It creaked and swayed under his weight, which was certainly concerning, but he gradually walked the length of the bridge and made it clear to the other side.

This was, perhaps, the strangest place at which he had ever hunted an ogre. Ogres didn't like castles and towers, they liked to stay hidden in secluded and unpleasant places like swamps and bogs. It was strange also, now that he thought about it, that Rumplestiltskin had urged him only to arrive after sunset. He was early, but he couldn't imagine why it would make much difference. What did it matter what time of the day the job was done, so long as it was done? Rumplestiltskin wouldn't know what Puss didn't tell, and surely he would be satisfied enough simply to know that the ogre had been taken care of.

The castle seemed utterly deserted inside. Rubble lay all around, skeletal human remains were scattered across the floors, banners hung torn apart, everything was covered in layers of dust and there seemed to be cobwebs in every corner. And, as Rumplestiltskin had promised, there seemed to be no sign of any dragon presently living here. But it was eerily silent and the whole place emanated with a sense of foreboding. One thing that caught his attention away, was a tall tower that he could see from a distance. Its window had a pale glow of light, implying someone was inside. Way up there, it must have been where the ogre was. The highest room in the tallest tower of the whole castle... He knew that ogres preferred a certain level of solitude, but he couldn't help but think that this was a little ridiculous.

Making a very long journey even longer still, Puss found his way to the tower, and walked up the seemingly hundreds of spiraling steps. _If any place was ever in need of an elevator..._ he thought bitterly. Eventually, he reached a tall wood-and-iron door, he pulled the handle to find that it was locked. What sort of ogre locked themselves inside a tower in an abandoned dragon's keep, he didn't know. Also, was that.. _humming_ he heard quietly beyond the door? Like that of a woman's voice... Strange, he'd never known ogres to be particularly musical. At all. But he had not the time or patience to ponder it any further. He swiftly unsheathed a single pale claw and began working away at the lock, which momentarily _un_ locked with a satisfying _click_. Before he opened the door, he preemptively gripped his sword and crept forward as the door was slowly pushed slightly forward with a creak. He then suddenly forced the door swiftly open and in the same instant stepped boldly into the room and thrust his sword to aim it towards the... _princess!?_ His eyes flew wide and he flinched at the sight.

Where he had been expecting a hideous green monster stood a lithe, beautiful princess in a long green dress whose shocked expression mirrored Puss's own. She was the first of the two to speak.

"Y-you're not... Are you my... rescuer?"

Whoever this rescuer was that she had mistaken Puss for, she clearly hadn't expected to be a cat. He assumed. When she broke the silence it helped Puss to shake off the initial surprise and regain his composure.

"Eh? No, I am afraid I am not. But I was told an ogre lived here..."

Her shocked expression turned to one of dread. She suddenly turned to see the window behind her, the sun was setting.

"No!" she suddenly exclaimed, turning back to Puss with a new horrified expression. "NO! You can't! There's been a mistake, no ogre lives here, I promise! But you must leave right now!"

She moved to usher Puss out the door, but he darted aside away from her reach. He didn't understand what was going on, but wanted some answers, and he wasn't about to return to Far Far Away until he'd earned his payment. He had no intentions of harming a princess, but he wasn't about to let her interfere with this job.

"Wait just one minute, I am not going anywhere just yet."

"Please!" she begged. "You _must!_ Right now!"

But her pleas only served to make Puss even more suspicious of her, and of this whole situation.

"Please, _please go_!" she begged again. She went for Puss again, but once again he evaded her.

She looked back at the window once more, then seemed to give up as she buried her face in her hands and fell seated onto the bed that sat beside the window. The room grew dark as the sun finally dipped below the horizon.

Puss was about to start asking questions until he noticed the princess slowly becoming enveloped in a soft light. Which soon grew brighter and more intense, and more and more until the light was so bright Puss had to shield his eyes lest the light render him blind. Then, almost as soon as it had came, the light faded and the room grew dark again, save for the dim light of the small sconces around the room, and a single candle on a table.

When Puss looked back, he could hardly believe the sight that greeted him. The princess seemed to have vanished and in her place was an ogre more than twice her size, but wearing the same dark green dress and with the same fiery red hair tied back into a braid. When she lifted her head, tears streaked her face and she bore an expression Puss had never seen on an ogre before. She spoke to Puss between sobs.

"Please... I don't want to die here... I have to be rescued, by my true love..."


	5. Chapter 5

It was certainly quite a shock, to say the least. He'd come all this way under the impression that it was a simple ogre killing, like he had done many times in the past. But this was messing with his head as he was trying to comprehend the situation he had now found himself in. And the ogre's crying was enough of a distraction to make it only more difficult.

As he spent the most of his time cooped up in his tiny, dark room in the back of a rundown pub, his social skills might not have been as finely tuned as they once were, and so he struggled at first to gather the words in his mind that he wanted to say.

"Look," he began uneasily, "I know you are clearly very distressed, but I am going to need some sort of an explanation as to just what is going on here."

The ogre... or rather _ogress_ slowly lifted her head and brushed tears from her cheeks, and her eyes landed on Puss's sword. He could only figure she was still concerned about his motives, so as much as he hated to do it, he cast his sword aside on the floor and face the ogress empty-pawed. She didn't seem much, if any, more relaxed by the act but she had at least composed herself a bit more. She heaved a sigh.

"By night one way By day another," she murmured softly, "This shall be the norm, Until you find true love's first kiss, And then take love's true form."

Puss simply stared at her for a moment.

"That was... pretty. But not really much of an explanation, to be honest" he said.

"It's _a spell_ ," she snapped, seeming slightly impatient of Puss's ignorance. But she sighed and her tone turned soft once again. "When I was a little girl, a witch cast a spell on me," she explained. "And every night I turn into _this_." She spat the last word as if it were poison on her tongue. "I was placed inside this tower to await the day my true love would rescue me and break the spell. But, as you can see... that never happened."

Rumplestiltskin's insistence for Puss to only go after the ogre after sunset now made so much more sense. If Puss had done just that, he would have simply arrived to meet the ogre he was meant to kill, instead of accidentally seeing the delicate, beautiful princess she was meant to be.

"You know what? I suppose it doesn't actually matter if you do kill me," the ogress said flatly, pulling Puss from his thoughts and back to the here and now.

The ogress hung her head once again.

"I'm just so tired of being trapped waiting in here," she muttered, "waiting for some true love who clearly doesn't even exist."

Puss considered this in silence for a moment. His mind drifted back to the gold he was promised for this job, he'd convinced himself it was all he needed and likewise all he wanted at this point. But seeing this princess, regardless of her current form, in such a state made the reward money suddenly seem like the most unimportant thing. And killing a blood-thirsty ogre who fought viciously for their life and severely threatened Puss's own, well that was one thing, but striking down a miserably depressed and hopeless ogre after an apparent lifetime of absolute misery, that was a whole other matter in itself. Maybe, for some brief moment, he had almost considered actually going through with it, but that only reminded him he was not the cat he used to be. Years ago, in his earlier years living in Far Far Away back when it was still something beautiful, he never would have given even a fraction of a second of thought to killing this ogress, he would have been too kind, too honor-bound. The years of Rumplestiltskin's reign had changed Puss and for the worse, he realized it now more than ever.

"Then you shall not wait another day in this place," Puss said at last. "Come with me, princessa, and we shall flee from here together."

What was he saying? Was he _insane?_ Rumplestiltskin would _never_ let Puss get away with this once he found out about it, in fact he'd probably have Puss killed in addition to the ogress for backing out on their agreement. But screw Rumplestiltskin, screw the money, he thought now. He'd have to be completely heartless to murder the ogress in this state, and even if he might have fooled himself before today, he knew he wasn't. His heart was still there, it still felt, and it ached at the thought of killing the ogress like this, or of causing her any more pain.

She, unsurprisingly, seemed puzzled at his sudden proposal. Only slightly more than he was surprised at himself. But Puss had made up his mind.

"What?"

"I may not be anyone's "true love", but I can still be your rescuer. I can take you far away from this place if you will allow it."

He was actually surprised when she seemed to be genuinely considering his proposal.

"You would do that, for _me_?"

Truth be told, he wasn't entirely sure that he should, even as he said these things he still had his doubts, his insecurities, and some inner instinct telling him not to disobey Rumplestiltskin under any circumstance. But he pushed it all down as he tried to resurface the cat he used to be.

He nodded. "I will do this, with no question to it." It was partially a lie, but she didn't have to know that, it would help to convince her if she didn't know it anyway.

And even if she was an ogre now, he couldn't help but be moved by her humanity. At any point of her imprisonment in this place she could have easily given in to an ogre's beastly instincts, in fact she could have tried to kill Puss if she wanted, for threatening her life just moment ago. Yet even looking at her as an ogre now, he saw far more princess than beast in this woman. In fact, beside her appearance, there was no trace of her being any bit of beastly in any regard that he could tell. What Puss saw truly was a lonely and heartbroken princess who had been condemned to a lifetime of waiting for an apparently imaginary hero. Even if Puss hadn't offered to rescue her, if he had chosen to spare her life but leave her locked away in here, it surely would only mean that she would spend the rest of her days slowly rotting away in this tower. Until she died anyway, alone and miserable as ever.

He wasn't heartless, he kept reminding himself all the while. This bitter, gruff loner he'd become over the years during Rumplestiltskin's reign wasn't him, not truly. He could remember, in truth he was kind and brave and the true him would _never_ condemn a woman, much less a _princess_ , to such a horrible fate.

"I realize," Puss added, "that I was misguided in my task to kill you. And I can see now that you are certainly _not_ deserving of such a fate, from this moment I wish only to help you, princessa."

"Fiona," she gently corrected after wiping a last stray tear from her cheek. "My name is Fiona."

 _Princess Fiona..._ The name somehow seemed vaguely familiar to him, as if he'd heard it before, but if he tried to remember he only drew a blank and his head began to hurt. He shrugged it off for the moment, perhaps he was only fooling himself or confusing her name with someone else he once knew. The latter was entirely too possible considering his former reputation with women he'd once had.

"Very well, Fiona." He tipped his hat to her as a respectful greeting. "And you may call me Puss In Boots."


End file.
